Jane Fonda shares importance of staying active: 'The best way to fight depression is to keep moving'

As we grow older, we start valuing our health and understanding the importance of a healthy lifestyle. Jane Fonda, the "Gracie and Frankie" actor, enjoys all the advantages of keeping an active and healthy lifestyle. The 85-year-old talked on Wednesday at the launch of H&M's Move Studio in New York City about all the merits that exercising has brought about over the years, per People Magazine. 

In addition to seeing that the "shape of my body" was changing when she first started working out, Fonda, who is credited with revolutionizing the fitness business in the 1980s with her at-home training programs, acknowledged that she also saw changes in her mental health. She said, "I come from a long line of really depressed people, and the best way to fight depression is to keep moving." The fact that Fonda has continued to be active for more than 40 years is something for which Fonda "thanks God every day."

She said, "You've got to stay strong. I have a grandson who's 3 years old, and I can still pick him up. I mean, I have to bend my knees and, you know, it takes a long time to get him up there, but I can still pick him up. You want to be able to carry your own bags." Fonda continued, "You have to be able to, you know, make love. I don't remember much [about that], but do I remember you need flexibility!"

She acknowledged that she didn't always respect fitness and that she has learned to love working out. She said, "I didn't know that it was important to do 'til I was in my 30s. I had a 'constant period' all during school so that I couldn't do gym — anything to get out of the gym. It wasn't until my late 30s [or] early 40s that I started to actually become active … [and] life before I was active, it wasn't nearly as good as when I started to move." 

The Academy Award winner also discussed her non-Hodgkin lymphoma diagnosis, which she made public in September. Fonda revealed that her cancer was in remission back in December. As she discussed her cancer treatments with Entertainment Tonight last month, Fonda acknowledged that the chemotherapy "hit me hard." She said, "It was the first time that I thought, 'OK, this is what most people experience.' Because the kind of chemo that I was taking wasn't so bad in the beginning." However, she said that it was extremely draining. 

The actress claimed she found out her illness was in remission only days before turning 85, which gave her more cause to rejoice but also provided her the chance to consider death, something she believes is necessary to do. Fonda said, "I think about death a lot. I have for the last 30 years. I think that's a healthy thing to do. It's hard to live right if you don't think about death. It's a part of life." 

She continued, "Other cultures aren't so afraid of thinking about death as we are. I spend a lot of time thinking about it and it's made my life a lot better. And when you get a cancer diagnosis, you think about it even more and you want to be sure you get the things done that you want to get done, so when the time comes you won't have a lot of regrets."